Polymer supported cosmetic products and methods

ABSTRACT

A cosmetic product includes a cosmetic component as a pigment maintained within a matrix of fibrillatable polymer. The pigment and polymer composition provides a cosmetic which can be employed for coloration of the skin and utilized as eye makeup, powder, or other cosmetic products by employing suitable processing techniques such as extrusion, milling, compacting, and so on.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser.No. 07/258,219, filed Oct. 14, 1988 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,952.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to cosmetics in general and more particularly toa product incorporating a cosmetic component supported in a fibrillatedpolymer matrix.

Cosmetics have been used since early times to beautify the skin andhair. The manufacture of cosmetics is a 20th century development underthe influence of Hollywood in the 1920's coupled with the development ofmass production and mass marketing techniques. As a consequence,cosmetics were offered to the public at cheap prices. As one canascertain, the cosmetic industry today is huge and there are atremendous number of products utilized.

While most cosmetics are relatively simple, they contain manyingredients which are employed to formulate the various cosmeticpreparations. Essentially a cosmetic chemist uses a variety of materialswhich are often based on emulsified mixtures of oils, water or watersoluble products, pigments, talcs and so on.

Manufacturing processes of cosmetics can normally be divided into threemain lines, as lipsticks and related sticks, creams and lotions, andcompressed powders, as for example cake makeup. This application relatesto compressed powder type of cosmetics, but is applicable to othercosmetic products as well.

In the prior art compressed powders were also referred to as cake makeupand are widely employed because of their ease of application andstability and also because they adhere to the skin easily. The most wellknown is a compressed face powder which usually is made from a mixtureof talc, kaolin, zinc oxide and precipitated chalk. It also includeslanolin derivatives, wax and pigment such as titanium and iron oxides.The liquid constituents, including a humectant and perfume are sprayedinto the powder while it is in a ribbon mixer. The product is milled tomake it homogeneous and left to stand to allow air that has beenentrained to escape and then pressed by one or more stages employingpressures between 200-250 psi to form a cake.

Cake eye shadows contain about 60% talc and an emollient which is a skinsoftening agent which allows the cake to be transferred by pressing out.Approved pigments are also added as, for example, a black colorationbeing provided by carbon black. Eye shadows of a metallic luster usefinely ground metal such as aluminum or natural or synthetic pearlizedmaterials. The formulation of such cosmetic products comprises a greatdeal of material including fairly extensive labor processes as well asother time consuming operations.

It is indicated that the dispersion of pigments in cosmetics may requiredifferent materials as above indicated and many different steps in orderto provide the final product. These steps usually take an extreme amountof time and are labor and capital intensive.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple andefficient cosmetic which essentially contains a cosmetic component as apigment supported by a polymer matrix.

As one will ascertain from the prior art, certain polymers, such as, forexample, Teflon, possess the somewhat unique property in that they arefibrillatable. The use of fibrillatable polymers is well known in theprior art. Such polymers have been employed to support various elementswith which said polymers are relatively non-reactive and readily capableof being dispersed therewith. Fluorocarbon and polypropylene polymershave such suitable characteristics and are capable of being fibrillated.As will be further explained, the term fibrillation means that themolecular structures of such polymers, when exposed to pressure and/orheat, e.g., high shear or milling, are disrupted and produce fibrils orminute fibers. These fibers are minute particles which are developed, insitu, from the fibrillatable polymers during processing. As such thefibrils intermesh in matrix-like configurations, whereupon they can beused with other components to provide various products.

For examples of prior art techniques using fibrillatable polymers,reference is made to the following U.S. patents. See U.S. Pat. No.4,332,698 issued on June 1, 1982 and entitled "Catalyst Sheet AndPreparation" by P. Bernstein, et al. This patent shows techniquesemploying fibrillatable polymers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,396 issued on Nov.9, 1982 and entitled "Particulate Catalyst And Preparation" to P.Bernstein, et al. shows additional techniques. See U.S. Pat. No.4,396,693 issued on Aug. 2, 1983 and entitled "Production Of A CellElectrode System" by P. Bernstein, et al. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,063issued on Feb. 21, 1984 and entitled "Hydrogen Sorbent Composition" byP. Bernstein, et al.

As indicated, the above patents are some examples of the use offibrillatable materials which operate in conjunction with variouscompositions.

In any event, it has been determined that the use of a fibrillatablepolymer, in conjunction with a cosmetic pigment, produces a vastlyimproved cosmetic article or product which exhibits extremely desirablecharacteristics, such as enhanced water resistance, a smooth silkyfeeling when applied to the skin of the user, extreme sheen,nonabrasiveness and an overall superiority to prior art products asindicated hereinabove.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A cosmetic product comprising a matrix of a fibrillated polymersupporting at least one cosmetic component.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is believed that this specification does not require drawings as theproducts and compositions are adequately described and understood.

As indicated, this invention employs a fibrillatable polymer inconjunction with a cosmetic component such as a pigment to produce acosmetic product having superior qualities. The fibrillatable polymer iscompatible with the pigment and is capable of dispersing in it and istotally non-reactive with both the pigment and the environment in whichit is to be used. The combination of the polymer and pigment can providecosmetic products which can be processed using pressing, extrusion andvarious other techniques to produce a wide range of different products,all of which can impart a desired color to the skin. The product, by theuse of a polymer such as Teflon, is extremely smooth, lubricious,simple, and inexpensive. It is immediately ascertained that the productessentially comprises a given percentage of a fibrillatable polymer inconjunction with a pigment and will have all the properties of prior artcake-type cosmetics with many advantages.

As is known, fluorocarbon and polypropylene polymers have the capabilityof fibrillation. According to the techniques of the present invention,it is advantageous for the polymer to be fibrillatable in a dry-typeprocess. In any event, such polymers are known. For example,polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) can be fibrillated from a dry powder andis commercially available as duPont's Teflon 6A and 7A. Fibrillatablepolypropylene is available for example in the form of fine strands,tapes or films which can be used as such or, as warranted in aparticular situation, fibrillated to appropriate sizes.

As will be further understood, according to the techniques of thepresent invention, these fibrillatable polymers are employed as asupport for a cosmetic component such as a pigment. The fibrillatablepolymer, when fibrillated, explodes into strands or fibers which becomeenmeshed with and throughout the cosmetic pigment. The polymer fibersupported cosmetic pigment is held in intimate contact with the polymerfibers and can be applied to the skin together to provide a unique typeof cosmetic product. The strands of polymer fiber intermesh to form asupport matrix which encloses and surrounds the cosmetic component.

As indicated, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a fluorocarbon resinwhich undergoes the phenomenon known as fibrillation when the PTFEpowder is exposed to high shear. This is done with an extreme change intemperature or change in its pH environment in the case of an emulsionfibrillation. For example, duPont manufactures a PTFE as Teflon 7A whichis a powder of high bulk density usually used to mold large shapes. Ithas been discovered that when Teflon 7A is placed in a high shear mixer,such as a Waring blender, and mixed for two minutes, the powder isconverted to a fibrillated mass. When compacted these fibers hold theshape of any container in which they were compressed. Thus one can makea mixture of pigment and the fibrillated Teflon in 5%, 10% and 20%concentrations of Teflon 7A with a suitable pigment or cosmeticcomponent. A more detailed description of the terms "fibrils""fibercontaining", and the fibrillation of polymer is set forth inBernstein et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,063 (issued Feb. 21, 1984) asfollows:

The terms "fibrils" and fiber containing refer to discrete fibersdeveloped in-situ from the fibrillatable polymers during processing tofibrillate the first polymer and intimately disperse components of thesystem. The components can all be blended together initially, e.g. in ablender such as a Banbury mixer or a ball mill, and then processed, e.g.in an extruder. Alternatively, the components can be mixed with eachother and processed in various sequences depending on the desiredultimate configuration and the equipment used. Advantageously, thefibrillatable component is processed in-situ by a dry processingtechnique to the fibrous component of the precursor polymericcomposition. By fibrillated in-situ is meant that it is fibrillated inthe presence of at least one component of the composition, e.g. theactive material. By removal of the pore-former, the precursor polymericcomposition is converted to the porous product.

The pigments employed are cosmetic pigments widely used for colorationin cosmetic formulations. Such pigments can be inorganic or organic. Forexample, suitable pigments include carmine, bismuth oxychloride, zincoxide, ferric oxide, ferrous oxide, kaolin, ultramarine violet-3519,ultramarine blue, chromium oxide, chromium hydroxide, zinc oxide,silica, and manganese violet. Other examples include lakes of organiccolorants such as FD & C Red No. 7 calcium lake, FD & C Yellow No. 5aluminum lake, D & C Red No. 9 barium lake, and D & C Red No. 30.Additional examples include talc, mica, titanium dioxide; and any of theforegoing carried on the surface of talc, mica, or titanium oxide; andtitanated mica. The term "pigment" includes mixtures of two or more ofthe foregoing.

Other processing techniques will operate as well such as milling,extruding and injection molding of the fibril supported pigments.Milling the pigment and PTFE combination produces sheets of materialswhich are then die cut into various shapes. One can also extrude themixture to obtain cylinders of material which are cut into variousdesired lengths for cosmetic pencils, sticks and so on. The mixture canbe pelletized to provide cosmetic pellets for skin coloration or otherpurposes. The fibril supported pigment has applications in conjunctionwith various other cosmetic products, such as lipsticks, eye shadows,eye liners, creams and other cosmetics and toiletries. It is of courseunderstood that a perfume or fragrance can be added to the pigmentsupported polymer to impart a desired fragrance to the same. It isunderstood that other polymers which are capable of fibrillation, suchas polypropylene and so on, can also be used.

As one can ascertain from the above, the processing techniques areextremely simple as utilizing a mechanical blending process wherebybased on the nature of the polymer there are no binders necessary, thereis no talc necessary and the resulting product is extremely smooth tothe feel and is capable of easy and smooth application. The combinationof pigment and Teflon fibers can be extruded to produce for exampleTeflon sheets which sheets can then be cut by means of die cuttingtechniques to provide various cosmetic shapes which will impart thepigment color to the skin of a user as well as the PTFE fibers. Thus,the product can be extruded, milled, compression or injection moldedwhile it maintains integrity and isolation.

It is further understood that the product is relatively hydrophobic orwaterproof due to the properties of PTFE and hence the product isrelatively water resistant as compared to other cosmetic formulations.One can employ any of the conventional cosmetic pigments, such as ironoxides and the same types of pigments which are presently utilized inpressed caked techniques or for cosmetic preparations. The amount ofPTFE employed is between 1-25% by weight of the product with theremainder being a cosmetic component or a pigment. These percentages canbe varied accordingly and according to the particular product desired.Hence, one may include as little as 0.25% of the polymer together withover 99% of pigment and additional fragrances as so desired.

The cosmetic product is relatively stick free, water resistant and, asindicated, completely eliminates the necessity for any binder to beutilized. Thus, as one can ascertain, the product consists completely ofa cosmetic component as pigment and the polymer fibrils and need notinclude any additional cosmetic components as binders, oils and so on.

It is of course understood that the polymer can be utilized togetherwith some talc and pigments as other cosmetic components and one cancompress the mixture and mold the mixture in any particular mannerdesired. For example, the material can be fabricated into sticksemploying a ram extrusion technique which essentially compacts thematerial in a cylinder and then a dye is used to force the material outof the cylinder through a suitable aperture. The combination pigment andpolymer has the appearance of a cylinder of colored cosmetic material orappears as a piece of colored chalk. This cosmetic product can beapplied directly to the skin and exhibits an extremely smooth feelingwhile having all the attributes as indicated above.

It will be understood that the embodiments described herein are merelyexemplary and that a person skilled in the art may make many variationsand modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

The following examples further illustrate certain aspects of the presentinvention and are not intended to limit the scope thereof to such.

EXAMPLE I

An inorganic pigment supported by fibrillated polymer was prepared, inaccordance with the present invention, in the following manner.

In this case, 9 grams of ultramarine violet-3519 was blended with 1 gramof Teflon 7A (PTFE) for two minutes in an IKA-WERK miniblender at roomtemperature. During the mixing the blender was inverted or shaken anumber of times to ensure complete mixing of the PTFE with the pigment.The pigment coated PTFE was taken from the blender and pressed into aneye shadow pan. The formulation containing only the two components with90% of the pigment and 10% of the Teflon held the shape of the pan, feltsilky, and showed an extremely good payoff.

Summarizing, it becomes apparent that the present invention provides anovel method for preparing polymer fiber supported pigment particleswhich are useful in a wide range of commercial applications,particularly those in the cosmetic product industry. Upon incorporationin numerous cosmetic formulations, the resultant polymer supportedpigment particles impart the desirable characteristics of, inter alia,enhanced hydrophobicity, uniform colorization, silky smoothness to theskin of the consumer. Due to the presence of the thusly modified pigmentparticles, in accordance with this invention, what were heretoforeconventional cosmetic products are thereby rendered vastly superior tothose of the prior art.

It is readily understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications in procedures, proportions, and materials may be madewithout departing from the scope and spirit of this invention as definedby the following claims:

What is claimed is:
 1. A compressed powder cosmetic product comprising,in combination, a fibrillated polymer and at least one cosmetic pigment.2. The cosmetic product according to claim 1, wherein said at least onecosmetic pigment is selected from the group consisting of carmine,bismuth oxychloride, zinc oxide, iron oxide, kaolin oxide, ultramarineviolet-3519, ultramarine blue, chromium hydroxide, silica, manganeseviolet, mica, titanium dioxide, titanium oxide, the lakes of organiccolorants, and mixtures thereof.
 3. The cosmetic product according toclaim 1, wherein said fibrillated polymer is polypropylene.
 4. Thecosmetic product according to claim 1, wherein said at least onecosmetic pigment is iron oxide.
 5. The cosmetic product according toclaim 1, wherein said at least one cosmetic pigment is ultramarineviolet.
 6. The cosmetic product according to claim 1, wherein saidfibrillated polymer comprises 0.25-25%, by weight, of said cosmeticproduct with the remainder being at least one cosmetic pigment.
 7. Thecosmetic product according to claim 1, wherein said fibrillated polymercomprises 10%, by weight, of said cosmetic product, and wherein said atleast one cosmetic pigment comprises 90%, by weight, of said cosmeticproduct.
 8. The cosmetic product according to claim 1 wherein saidfibrillated polymer is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
 9. The cosmeticproduct according to claim 8, wherein said PTFE is in resinous form. 10.A method of forming a compressed powder cosmetic product comprising thesteps of fibrillating a fibrillatable polymer and combining saidfibrillated polymer with at least one cosmetic pigment to form ahomogeneous blend; and processing the blend of said fibrillated polymerand at least one cosmetic pigment to form a compressed powder cosmeticproduct.
 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein saidfibrillatable polymer is polytetrafuoroethylene (PTFE).
 12. The methodaccording to claim 10, wherein said PTFE is in resinous form.
 13. Themethod according to claim 10, wherein said at least one cosmetic pigmentis selected from the group consisting of carmine, bismuth oxychloride,zinc oxide, iron oxide, kaolin oxide, ultramarine violet-3519,ultramarine blue, chromium hydroxide, silica, manganese violet, mica,titanium dioxide, titanium oxide, the lakes of organic colorants, andmixtures thereof.
 14. The method according to claim 10, wherein the stepof processing includes pressing the blend of said fibrillated polymerand said at least one cosmetic pigment into a suitable container. 15.The method according to claim 10, wherein the step of processingincludes milling the blend of said fibrillated polymer and said at leastone cosmetic pigment into planar sheets and cutting said sheets intodesired cosmetic configurations.
 16. The method according to claim 10,wherein the step of processing includes extruding the blend of saidfibrillated polymer and said at least one cosmetic pigment intocylindrical cosmetic configurations.
 17. The method according to claim10, wherein said polymer is polypropylene.
 18. The method according toclaim 10, wherein said fibrillated polymer comprises between 0.25-25%,by weight, of said cosmetic product with the remainder being said atleast one cosmetic pigment.
 19. The method according to claim 10,wherein said at least one cosmetic pigment is ultramarine violet. 20.The method according to claim 10, wherein said at least one cosmeticpigment is iron oxide.
 21. The method according to claim 10, whereinsaid at least one cosmetic pigment comprises 90%, by weight, of saidcosmetic product and wherein said fibrillated polymer comprises 10% byweight, of said cosmetic product.
 22. The method according to claim 10,wherein the step of processing includes pressing the blend of saidfibrillated polymer and said at least one cosmetic pigment into an andeyeshadow pan.
 23. A compressed powder cosmetic product, comprising amatrix of fibrillated polymer supporting at least one cosmetic pigmentselected from the group consisting of carmine, bismuth oxychloride, zincoxide, kaolin oxide, ultramarine violet 3519, chromium hydroxide,silica, manganese violet, mica, titanium dioxide, titanium oxide, thelakes of organic colorants, and mixtures thereof.
 24. The cosmeticproduct according to claim 23, wherein said fibrillated polymer ispolytetraflouroethylene (PTFE).
 25. The cosmetic product according toclaim 23, wherein said fibrillated polymer is polyproplene.
 26. Thecosmetic product according to claim 23, wherein said cosmetic productcomprises between 1-25%, by weight, of said polymer with the remainderbeing said cosmetic pigment.
 27. The cosmetic product according to claim23, including 10%, by weight, of said polymer and 90%, by weight, ofsaid cosmetic pigment.
 28. A method of forming a compressed powdercosmetic product comprising the steps of:subjecting a fibrillatablepolymer to high shear forces to cause said polymer to fibrillate; addingto said polymer a cosmetic pigment selected from the group consisting ofcarmine, bismuth oxychloride, zinc oxide, kaolin oxide, ultramarineblue, chromium hydroxide, silica, manganese violet, mica, titaniumdioxide, titanium oxide, the lakes of organic colorants, and mixturesthereof; mixing said polymer with said cosmetic pigment; and processingthe mixture of said polymer and said cosmetic pigment to form a cosmeticproduct.
 29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the step ofprocessing includes pressing said mixed polymer and cosmetic pigmentinto a suitable container.
 30. The method according to claim 28, whereinthe step of processing includes extruding said mixed polymer andcosmetic pigment into cylindrical cosmetic configurations.
 31. Themethod according to claim 28, wherein said polymer ispolytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
 32. The method according to claim 28,wherein said polymer is polypropylene.
 33. The method according to claim28, employing between 1-25% of said polymer by weight with the remainderbeing said cosmetic pigment.
 34. The method according to claim 28,employing 90%, by weight, of said polymer and 10% by weight, of saidcosmetic pigment.
 35. The method according to claim 28, wherein the stepof subjecting said polymer to high shear includes placing said polymerin a high shear mixer and mixing said polymer for a given periodsufficient to cause fibrillation.
 36. The method according to claim 28,wherein said polymer is in powderous form.
 37. The method according toclaim 28, wherein said cosmetic pigment comprises 90%, by weight, of themixture.
 38. The method according to claim 28, wherein the step ofprocessing includes pressing said mixture into an eyeshadow pan.
 39. Amethod of forming a compressed powder cosmetic product comprising thesteps of:subjecting a fibrillatable polymer to high shear forces; addingto said polymer a cosmetic pigment selected from the group consisting ofcarmine, bismuth, oxychloride, zinc oxide, iron oxide, kaolin oxide,ultramarine violet-3519, ultramarine blue, chromium hydroxide, silica,manganese violet, mica, titanium dioxide, titanium oxide, the lakes oforganic colorants, and mixtures thereof; milling the mixture of saidpolymer and said cosmetic pigment into planar sheets; and forming acosmetic product of a given configuration from said planar sheets. 40.The method according to claim 39, wherein said forming step includescutting said planar sheets into a desired configuration, said cuttingbeing carried out by means of a die.